If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

On Saturday morning Everly and I met my mom and my nephews at The Dollhouse and Toy Store in Scottsdale for a special story time with the mouse from the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." They had the mouse there and they read a few stories from that series of books and they passed out little cookies as well. You could also take your picture with the mouse and it was all free. We don't read "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" that much but Everly loves "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake" and we also have "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" for Christmas time. Everly was actually really excited to see the mouse when we arrived. I wasn't sure how it would go because of our experiences with Santa and characters at Disneyland. She is not horrible, but she usually does not want to get close. When we arrived she kept waving to the mouse and saying, "Hi Mouse!" I caught a little of it on video:



Everly and both boys loved the cookies. I took a picture with Teddy and Everly and the mouse because they both were interested but didn't want to get up there by themselves. Cam was busy enjoying his cookies in his stroller. After picture time the mouse took a break and we played in the back of the store where they had a Calico Critters doll house set up as well as a train track. Everly was hooked immediately. It was not easy getting her to leave the doll house but it did help that grandma got her some Calico Critters of her own to take home (spoiled). We were already planning on getting her a doll house of some sort for her 3rd birthday coming up but now we know it is going to be well received. As we were leaving Everly asked to have another cookie and then decided she was comfortable enough to give the mouse a big hug. It was so cute and I am glad she warmed up. Gives me hope for Santa and Disneyland this year. They have some more special story times coming up in the next few months so hopefully I can take her to one on my maternity leave. The store also has a play area with lots of toys and dollhouses that you can pay to play in but we opted out that day as it was nearing lunch time. Everly's babysitter has taken her before though and she loved it. Here are some pictures from the morning:

He immediately ran up and gave this little boy a hug/kiss. Very loving lately!

Progress!

Later in the evening playing with her critters. She is obsessed.

Nursery Updates

We have made more progress on the nursery! Last week we bought some curtains at Target after I they discontinued the ones I wanted from Ikea. I like the ones we got from Target but the IKEA ones were just so cheap! Justin spray painted a black curtain rod gold and hung the curtains and I think it looks great. We don't even have curtains in our own room, but I just felt like that window looked weird without curtains and I love how the gold turned out too. I also made a lot of progress on a tassel garland that my sister helped me with. I am still going to fill it in more but it is a start. It is currently on the wall behind the crib but I am not 100% if I am going to keep it there. Justin finished making a mobile for Aspen and now that it is hung I don't know if the tassel looks so good behind the crib. The mobile is super cute and to be honest, it is similar to a lot of items I liked on Etsy but just didn't want to spend the money on. Justin spent like $3 on the supplies to make this! I know, I am very lucky that my husband is both handy and crafty. He had also made a mobile for Everly's nursery so it was nice for him to do the same for Aspen as well. We are well aware she is going to get a lot of hand-me-downs and what not, so it is nice when we can try to do some special individual things for her as well. Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

Weekend in Review

Another weekend down and another week closer to meeting baby Aspen! This weekend started off with a walk with Mom on Saturday morning. My sister met us at the park with one of my nephews and then we grabbed coffee and bagels afterwards. I still miss running, but hopefully this walking is helping progress my labor naturally. Although I did not exercise regularly with my last pregnancy, I did do some walking and often it was at this same park. We recreated a picture I took at 37 weeks pregnant with Everly since I hit 37 weeks pregnant with Aspen this weekend. I don't look too much different but I think I look like I am carrying more now (on the right).

 

 

 

After breakfast I headed home so that Justin could go to work. I had plans with my mom to go to Buy Buy Baby and get some baby items that I needed. It was actually a very successful trip. We used coupons for everything I bought. I got some replacement parts for my breast pump and Everly picked out a present to give to baby Aspen. We also picked up a bed rail for Everly because she has fallen out of her twin bed once. This morning she was sleeping right up against it so I guess it is doing it's job! Everly was hilarious. She was wearing two pairs of sunglasses in the car, getting cross-eyed playing with a string, and then in the store she insisted on pushing around a shopping cart and filling it with ridiculous items.

 



Holding Abigail

She wanted that tutu onesie because she had a "show"

After shopping we ate lunch at the splashpad. It is so fun to watch Everly run around and entertain herself. She was even spoiled with a giant cookie after lunch. I also was able to run into a store and pick up part of Everly's gift from Aspen. She has an Abigail Interactive Story Buddy and so we got her a tea set that goes with it and then I just need to get the tea party book as well. She has been very into Abigail lately and also anything tea party lately so I think she will love it.

 

 

On Sunday we got a lot of cleaning done at home and worked on some stuff for the nursery. I know it's the nesting occurring, but it really feels good to have a clean house! On Sunday evening we went to the splash pad again to have dinner and celebrate my brother-in-laws birthday. It ended up getting really windy and then started lighting as a monsoon storm rolled in so our trip was slightly shortened but Everly still had a lot of fun. I feel bad for people who dread Sunday nights because Monday is coming and they have to go back to work. I really don't feel that way and even less so when we have such a productive weekend like we did!

 

Shutterfly Photo Book

I had mentioned I was working on creating a photo book with pictures from our summer zoo trips. A couple of years ago I had made a similar one for my sister and I had recently gotten a couple of free photo book codes that expire before Aspen arrives so I decided I wanted to use them and a zoo book sounded like a great idea. I made the book so it would be something both my sister and I could enjoy and that way I could just order two of the exact same book. It ended up costing me $13 to have both books shipped, but that's it. I think that $13 for two awesome photo books is a pretty great deal, especially when this is really the only way we print pictures anymore. I can't wait till I get that orange package in the mail! Here is the book:

Click here to view this photo book larger



Nursery Updates...and nesting!

This past weekend we made a little progress in the nursery and a lot of progress in the baby preparations. As far as the nursery, Justin hung up the book shelves that we painted. I think they look great and we actually really needed a place for books in the nursery so they are very functional as well. Also, since they are spice racks from Ikea that we painted with leftover paint from the dresser...they were cheap too! We filled them with board books because we all know babies like to rip paper.

 

 

My sister and I also got started on a tassel garland that we are going to hang on the wall behind the crib. It is going to be time consuming but we got some trial and error testing out of the way so hopefully it doesn't take too much longer. Working with tissue paper is always a joy!

 

 

As far as nesting goes I got a couple more loads of laundry done. We got the diaper bag packed as well, but more importantly we got a lot of dishes done. Justin reorganized some of our kitchen cabinets to make room for baby bibs, baby bottles, and pumping supplies while I cleaned all of those items. I also found two boxes of milk freezing bags in one of the boxes with bottle stuff so that was exciting. We boiled some bottle nipples and pacifiers and just got really organized. When getting my pump out and ready I noticed that the one of the tubes had a crack and apparently I had just dealt with it by putting a piece of scotch tape over it. I decided I should probably look into getting new tubes and when I did I discovered that Medela will send you new tubes free! They had awesome customer service and the tubes are already in the mail on their way. They also recommended I replace some other parts and others were kind of gross so I am going to pick up a few things for that in the next couple of weeks. Next up we need to get our own bags packed for the hospital, as well as a bag for Everly who will stay with my mom/sister while we are at the hospital.



Mall Trip

One of the things we love to do on weekend mornings in the summer is go to the mall. It always cracks me up when we get there early and no stores are open but there are plenty of people there. Apparently it is common for people (generally elderly) to get there exercise in by walking laps around the mall. I get it, I guess. It's air-conditioned and that is the same reason we are there instead of outside at a playground. Anyways, Justin had an appointment at the apple store that morning so it was perfect. My sister was working but my mom met us with the boys and they all had a lot of fun. This 5 or 6 year old boy came up to Everly and asked her if she wanted to play tag. She got shy and didn't say anything but it only took a couple of minutes before she was giggling and chasing him. It was so cute. Cameron had a blast as well and was a little giggle monster. The play area is right next to the Disney Store so we obviously went in there after. We often don't buy anything in there but Everly loves it and calls it the princess store. We walked around the mall a little more and took a ride on the little carousel before visiting the puppies and heading out. Everly almost passed out before lunch so I guess she had fun! I know Teddy fell asleep on the way home!

 

Also, can we talk about these boys in baby blue...

 

Pregnancy Update: 36 Weeks

Trying to get in lots of protein!

How far along? 36 weeks

How big is baby? The size of a large cantaloupe

Total weight gain/loss:  still gaining...

Maternity clothes? Yep. Can't wait to wear normal clothes again.

Sleep: Mostly good. Some weird dreams still and the peeing but not too bad. Thankfully we have a fairly low-profile bed. I can't imagine trying to roll out of a big bed at this stage.

Best moment this week: Everly has been hilarious this week. She is telling all kinds of crazy stories and rambling and just really entertaining us.

Movement: Still a lot of movement but I think it is getting tighter in their for her. The movements are less disruptive than they have been.

Food cravings:  I think they are calming down a little actually.

Food Aversions: None really. I pretty much eat everything, obviously.

Gender: Girl

Labor Signs:  Not that I know of.

Pregnancy Symptoms:  I think I might be starting to waddle :(

Belly Button in or out? In.

What I miss:  Lately I have been really missing running as I stopped at 33 weeks due to it being too uncomfortable for me. My SIL is training for a half and I wish I could train with her!

What I am looking forward to: this week I realized I am looking forward to not driving in traffic in the morning. Schools started back up this week in AZ and so did the traffic!

Upcoming appointments/events:  4 more scheduled weekly appointments. Anything after that will be past my due date.

Milestones: I am definitely nesting. This week we worked on projects for the nursery, I contacted my friend about newborn pictures, called the hospital to make sure our forms were received, started working on a birth plan, finished a documentary about natural childbirth, and picked out a gift for Aspen to give to Everly. Still a lot to do but the fact that we are getting stuff done is good.

Toddler Talk

Everly was having quite the chatty night earlier this week. It is so funny to see her get so worked up when she is rambling. Luckily I was able to catch some on video:

 

I have no idea what prompted that and although I am laughing at it, I did talk to her after and tell her that killing is not nice.

 

After bath time, there was this:

 

 

 

Initially we had no idea where this came from but later found out that Everly's babysitter's daughter read her a book about a pigsty and we are guessing that was what prompted this. It is funny though because she didn't even think Everly was listening while she read it and it was the week before this rant happened. What she picks up and how her little brain works is so funny. Love this stage! 

Nursery Updates... and toddler room too!

This past weekend Justin finished sanding/painting the other bunk bed for Everly's room. Shortly after putting them up in her room, we headed to our favorite mattress store (R&S Mattress) to get Everly a new mattress. When my Dad gave me the beds they still had the same mattresses that my sister and I slept in when we were younger. Although the mattresses actually looked in pretty good condition, we wanted to get a new one for Everly to sleep on and we knew a twin would be relatively cheap. It was funny because she was acting tired and the whole trip took maybe 20 minutes, but she couldn't make it out of the store before falling asleep. The picture below looks like the mattress is smashing her head but she had her head like that before we even put the mattress in the car and she didn't wake up when Justin put it in. The bunk beds are put together in her room, but we will only allow her to be on the top bunk when we are in there with her. For now, the ladder will be tucked away in the closet. Also, we haven't picked out sheets yet so she is still dealing with some crappy purple ones (which she actually loves). I am so glad we were able to get these beds. It was so much more affordable than buying a new bed and I love that she has something handed down. Also, she has a big room and this really fills it up a little more.

 



 

 

She kept saying, "I love it!"



 

On Saturday I also went to Ikea and picked up a few things for the nursery. We got this kitchen cart to put next to the changing table to store diapers and wipes and things. I have been wanting one of these forever and I love it. I also got 4 of these spice racks. We painted them coral last night and are going to hang them and use them as little bookshelves. I got this rug because it was so dang cheap and also a couple of gold picture frames. I wanted curtains, but they discontinued what I was looking for so I will probably find some at target. The room is still messy, but it is coming together! Better late than never right...



I realized after we put the cart in here that I had absolutely zero newborn diapers, so I went to Target and bought a small package...just incase.

Super easy and cheap project. The shelves are $5 each!

Everly "helping"

A cute print for the nursery.

 

Zoo Day

We had a very busy weekend with a lot of productivity involved! On Saturday morning, we started off with the zoo. I plan on making a photo book of all of our zoo trips soon so I actually took like 150 pictures this day but I will only share a few from my phone so this doesn't drag on forever. On Friday night it rained pretty hard which meant it was overcast while we were at the zoo the next morning. My youngest sister also came to help us out because Justin was working that day. We got there at 6:30 a.m. and stayed until about 9:30 a.m. It may sound crazy, but getting out early is our way of still enjoying the outdoors in the AZ summers. I figure it is better than snowy winters because at least we can avoid some heat early in the morning whereas in snowstorms in the eastern states...there is no avoiding it. The kids had fun and we got to do some things that we don't always make it to including the kids farm area. It has a playground and a petting zoo. The boys got to meet Pedro the donkey and Teddy even kissed him. We also got to see the bears playing with a tethered ball that had snacks inside it. They sure are smart animals. Hopefully we can fit in one more trip before baby Aspen arrives

Two seconds later...Teddy tried to do the same thing.

Rhino!

Such a charmer!

Cousins!

Pedro

The playground got some new ride-on toys!

Love how much she gets excited.

Reminding us that she is a toddler.

bears!

If you have ever been to the Phoenix Zoo more than once, then you know that this wolf is always laying in the exact same spot.

Cheese!

Belly Video: 35 Weeks

I feel like every time I try to show someone how crazy Aspen moves sometimes, she totally stops. I have also tried to take video of it several times and when I do...she stops. Yesterday I was able to catch a little clip, though. I guess it is starting to get a little tight in there for her...